Freedom, Colorado 2
Freedom to Trust
Nikki Wilder knows no man wants an over-the-hill former vice cop with serious control issues. To fill a void in her life, she becomes a foster parent to Mark, an eleven-year-old whose mother was recently killed.
When Mark runs away, she turns to rugged Search and Rescue twins Garth and Zane Milosino for help. Their interest in Mark’s care, along with the way they seem to know what turns her on in bed, gives her hope for romance. She knows Zane is a Dom, but when he grabs her wrists, she freaks.
The two Doms are attracted to her and realize her need for control stems from her desire to please. The pleasing part is just what they’re looking for in a woman. They love to share and set out to win her over. What must Garth and Zane do to tempt Nikki to trust again?
Note: There is no sexual relationship or touching for titillation between or among siblings.
Genre: BDSM, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Western/Cowboys
Length: 62,265 words
FREEDOM TO TRUST
Freedom, Colorado 2
Melody Snow Monroe
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
FREEDOM TO TRUST
Copyright © 2013 by Melody Snow Monroe
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62740-264-4
First E-book Publication: July 2013
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
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Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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DEDICATION
To all the wonderful foster parents of the world.
FREEDOM TO TRUST
Freedom, Colorado 2
MELODY SNOW MONROE
Copyright © 2013
Chapter One
Nikki Wilder stood in front of the Child Services door, rubbing her palms together, trying to calm her beating heart. Her pits were damp despite having walked two blocks in the icy cold, and her stomach wouldn’t stop churning. Doubt at her inability to give this child what he truly needed blended with the joy of having someone to love.
Just go in. You can’t turn back now. Mark needs you—whether he knows it or not.
Being a foster parent was a huge responsibility, but she had to do it. She hadn’t been able to get the image of the fearless young man out of her mind for the last three weeks. While hiding in a motel bathroom, eleven-year-old Mark Richie heard three gunshots. Moments later he saw his mom die on the pavement outside their room. That was how Nikki and her co-owner had found him. He hadn’t cried, and he hadn’t struggled when the cops escorted him away. How sad was that?
Go.
Nikki knocked on the wavy glass window and pushed open the door. Summer Ashford, Mark’s Child Services representative, looked up and smiled.
“Hey, Nikki.” She turned to Mark. “Look who’s here.”
Mark sat next to Summer’s desk in a high, straight back chair. His arms were wrapped around his backpack, his gaze cast downward, and he was rocking slightly. Poor child. He still seemed to be lost in some dark place. Nikki couldn’t blame him after what he’d gone through. She couldn’t imagine losing a parent, and especially not at his tender age.
“Hi, Mark.” Blood raced through her body, as she prayed he’d respond.
Christ. For five years, she’d been a Vice cop and had faced guns, thugs, and murderers. She’d never been as nervous as she was now.
He looked up, a flicker of recognition sparking in his eye. “Hi, Nikki.”
Hi, Nikki was a good sign. They’d spoken a few days ago about him coming to live with her. He’d seemed happy, though at times it was hard to tell what was going on his head.
Summer stood. “Mark, can you excuse us for a minute? We’ll be right outside.”
His eye tic started again. Nikki wanted to run to him, give him a big hug, and tell him everything would be okay. Only she didn’t like to lie.
Once outside, Summer moved down the hall a few feet. “The therapist has been working with him extensively, but so far, Mark hasn’t come to terms with his mom’s death.”
“It’s only been three weeks.” It was months before she’d understood the ramifications of her first kill. It didn’t matter she’d saved someone’s life in the process.
Summer ran a comforting hand down her arm. “I know. I just wanted to let you know he might appear a little reserved for a while.”
That was a polite way of saying the highly intelligent loner wouldn’t be running around laughing anytime soon.
“We’ll manage.”
Summer smiled. “I know. When I told him today was the day he got to leave, he actually smiled.”
Hope surged. “That’s great. We’ll get through this.” Repeat as often as needed, Nikki.
“I know. That’s why we picked you to take him.”
That and the fact no one else wanted him. Their third security firm co-owner and computer wizard, Holly Morganton, had searched extensively for a relative, but couldn’t find one. Not knowi
ng the dad’s identity limited the search.
Six months ago in Denver, she’d finished being vetted into the foster parent program. She knew with her job and her age, she wasn’t ever going to find a man or have time for a baby. Foster parenting seemed to be the perfect solution. Just as she was about to take a young girl, the debacle happened at work, forcing Nikki to “move on.” No job and little savings meant no foster child. The emotional scars still hadn’t healed, but maybe now they would. Mark gave her a second chance, and she hoped he felt the same way.
Summer led her back inside, and Nikki spotted a battered suitcase in the corner. He’d lived eleven years and that was all he had? Her heart ached.
She mentally added a trip to the department store to buy him clothes, school supplies, and probably a computer. Then she’d have to stop at the grocery store for food, even though she didn’t have a clue what he liked to eat. Would he be like other kids who lived on hamburgers, pizza, and Coke? Or was he a picky eater? If he spent his evenings at the Golden Nugget where his mom had worked, no telling what he snacked on.
Nikki plastered on a smile and held out her hand. “Ready to come see your new home?”
When Mark glanced over at Summer, Nikki’s heart squeezed. She wanted to be the one he looked to for answers. She lowered her arm.
“Go on, Mark. Nikki’s going to be your new mom.”
If only for a while. If a couple wanted to adopt him, she’d lose him. Nikki pushed aside that negative thought.
He stood and slipped on his backpack then grabbed his suitcase.
“I’ll take that.” She slipped the case from his fingers.
Should I wrap an arm around him for support? Like her engineer dad, Nikki never was very good at showing her emotions. Her father cared about figures and facts. Connecting with others, he’d claimed, only got in the way of allowing him to explore his potential.
“Thanks, Summer.” Nikki tried to smile, but her lips shook too much.
“Are you and the girls doing your usual Thursday night get-together this week?”
Ever since she and Dani had brought Mark here, she and Summer had become friends. “I’ll let you know.” Her life as she’d known it was about to change and she couldn’t be sure of anything.
As soon as they stepped out to the hallway, Mark stiffened, acting as if he wasn’t sure about coming with her.
“You hungry?”
He looked up at her. “No.”
“Well, maybe you will be by the time we get back home.” Forcing him to do anything might cause an issue, and she really wanted his time with her to go as smoothly as possible.
While she wasn’t a troubled kid growing up, if her mom pushed her too hard, she’d rebel. Her dad said she was stubborn to a fault. Wonder where I got that trait, Dad?
They took the stairs down to the main floor. As they reached the exit, she glanced over at Mark. His coat was too thin for this kind of weather. So sad.
Nikki wanted to ask him how he was doing emotionally as well as physically, but he’d probably just grunt. She grew up with three sisters and was the youngest child to boot, so what had she been thinking taking him in? She knew little about boys, but Mark’s sadness as well as his inner strength had called to her. The moment their eyes had met, there had been a strong connection, or so she wanted to believe.
You can do this.
The wind had picked up and the snow was coming down harder now, storming and swirling. Was that an omen of what her life was going to be? She hoped not.
“I’m parked on the next block.”
At five-feet three, Mark was actually an inch taller than she was. Weight-wise, she definitely tipped the scales in her direction. No one would ever think they were related. Where his hair was close to blond and rather shaggy, hers was almost black and cut right to her shoulder. Having her hair fly in her face while aiming a gun could be disastrous, so she left it long enough to pull back.
She hurried the best she could, and when the car came into view, she clicked the remote to open the locks. “Hop in.” She popped the trunk and placed his suitcase in back then stepped to the side. “Want me to put your backpack in here?”
“No.”
While she couldn’t see what he was doing, she suspected he was hugging the damn thing. Some kids used blankets for their security, others backpacks.
After closing the trunk, she slid onto her seat and started the engine. Mark stared straight ahead, his toe tapping on the floor mat, saying nothing.
The silence unnerved her. “So, did you make a lot of friends at the…place where you stayed?” She didn’t want to call it an orphanage or a group home. That sounded too depressing.
He shrugged. “Everyone was younger than me.”
Ooh, pierce my heart now. “What about your tutors? Were any of them nice?” He had to have had someone he liked or she was in for a long haul.
“Everyone treated me like I was stupid. Except for Mr. Charles.”
That was positive. “Why Mr. Charles?”
“He was my math and science tutor. He was real good with computers.”
Summer had said Mark was constantly on a computer. Good thing Nikki had Wi-Fi at home. “You like to play video games?” What kid didn’t, right?
“Yeah, but I also like to write them.”
Okay, now she was lost. “Write them? What do you mean? You write screenplays?” His IQ scores had been off the chart.
He shook his head. “I like to create war games.”
Holy shit. “You know how to write software?” He was only a kid.
She glanced over at him. His cheeks burned red. “Yeah.”
Mark was a lot smarter in that department than she was. She bet he and Holly would have a lot in common. Nikki asked a lot more questions, but when the tic appeared around his eye again and his arms clutched the backpack tighter, she decided to shut up.
From what Summer had been able to figure out, Mark’s life growing up hadn’t been structured. His mom often had to leave him alone or with the casino workers. Nikki couldn’t blame his mother. A single parent had to do whatever it took to give her son what he needed.
Instead of going straight home, she drove to the Freedom Mall. She knew what the lower income teens from Denver looked like, but there was no way she’d let Mark anywhere near a tattoo parlor, and they weren’t walking out of the mall with the crotch of his pants to his knees.
“Do you have a favorite store?”
“No.”
Crumwalds was a generic store that had everything from clothes to makeup to power tools. The weather was less than perfect, so she parked as close to the entrance as possible. “Let’s leave the backpack in the trunk. I don’t think they’ll let you go into a dressing room with it.”
He looked at her intensely as if he was debating whether he could part with it. “Sure.”
She stashed his gear and they went inside. She thought he’d know his size and make a beeline to what appealed to him. That didn’t happen. He must have fingered every jean and shirt as if to decide what he wanted or whether it would even fit.
“Just take a few sizes, Mark, and go try them on.”
Finally, even he must have been tired of only touching and picked a few items. One hour later, he had two pairs of jeans, three shirts, and some underwear.
“You need a jacket, too.”
His lips thinned. “How can I pay for all this?”
So that was what was bothering him. Her heart broke. Now she stepped closer and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “You don’t have to worry about a thing. I’m paying.” She tugged. “You’re with me now, okay?”
While he cast his gaze to the floor for a moment, he looked up and she swore she saw the end of his lips curl. Joy speared her. He nodded. Yes! They were going to get through this.
“Next stop, school supplies.”
As they headed to the other end of the mall, they passed the animal store. The most adorable puppies and kittens crawled around in cages and star
ed up at them. Mark stopped. He placed a hand on the glass, and her heart hitched. She wasn’t sure if she could handle a new puppy and a troubled boy. Then again, maybe she could—just not right now.
She let him observe the animals for a while. “Come on. We can’t spend all day here.”
He broke away and they headed to pick up a few notebooks, some paper, and pencils. She’d called the school and found out he’d need a special type of calculator, too. Kids were so expensive.
By the time they arrived back at her house, it was dinnertime. She’d made a chicken casserole ahead of time, and all she needed to do was heat it up.
“Let me show you to your new room. I hope you like it.”
She’d spent every night this week painting the room blue. Boys liked blue, right? She thought about buying the Spider Man bedspread or the Star Wars one, but she took a chance and went with a casino theme since he grew up in Black Hawk. Four big aces covered the top, and scattered poker chips filled the bottom half. The bright colors added cheer to the room—or so she thought.
Mark stepped inside and just stared. Crap. Even though she’d bought him a desk, a lamp, and a reading chair, he probably thought the spread wasn’t him.
Nikki threaded her hands together. “I can change it.”
He turned toward her. “It’s cool.” A smile lifted his lips and her heart soared.
This is so going to work.
“Great.” Her voice shook. What was up with that? “I need to put the dinner in the oven. You get settled and come to the kitchen when you’re ready.”
Not waiting for him to answer, she spun on her heels and headed out. She’d just placed the casserole in the oven when one of her best friends, and co-owner of Freedom Securities Services, Dani Milan called.
Freedom to Trust [Freedom, Colorado 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 1